Employee Free Choice Act

The proposed federal Employee Free Choice Act made news this week as unions and business leaders argued its pros and cons and Rep. Charlie Dent restated his opposition to it. In part, it would allow unions to organize workers without a secret ballot. Here, L.V. Labor Council President Gregg Potter and George Hlavac, an attorney with Tallman Hudders and Sorrentino in South Whitehall Township, make their cases. GEORGE HLAVAC Q: If a union is able to collect commitment cards from more than half the workers at a company, why shouldn't it be able to unionize them?

Do you feel the winds of change a blowin'? Finally, the last eight years of damnation and assault on America's working class are coming to an end and there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel, folks. There is a new sheriff in town and he rode in packing the hope he promised all of us. Sit back, take time to reflect for a moment. Can you can feel it? Decency, patriotism and pride are again prevalent among the American people. Progress! It feels good. We're on our way to passing the Employee Free Choice Act to secure workers' constitutional right to form a union free from intimidation by their employer.

By Josh Drobnyk and Scott Kraus Of The Morning Call | February 19, 2009

Business and labor groups are hurtling toward a major battle over federal legislation that would make it easier to form unions, a fight that has pushed its way into the Lehigh Valley and could ultimately hinge on the vote of Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. The area's competing interests will collide today at a Hotel Bethlehem luncheon organized by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, where representatives from a dozen area businesses will come together to discuss the bill as labor activists protest outside.

I was extremely happy to see the front page of the paper on July 18. Finally, some good news in these tough economic times. The idea of eliminating the secret ballot in union organization attempts is truly ludicrous. Your article mentioned possible intimidation by employers, but what about intimidation by union representatives? We all get to vote for our elected officials using a "secret ballot" and this should be no different. I fully support an individual's right to chose, but they must be allowed to vote in private.

If George Will (Feb. 28 op-ed column) doesn't think employees are subject to anti-union intimidation, he should try working at Wal-Mart and announce he favors a union. He'll quickly learn about limits on free speech. He worries that workers will be "herded" into unions under the proposed Employee Free Choice Act. He might also mention the thousands of workers who are fired, demoted or penalized each year for attempting to form a union. This is a right they are guaranteed, but a right that is constantly ignored.

Will Congressman Charlie Dent, attorney George Hlavac, the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and corporate America tell the truth about the Employee Free Choice Act? Congressman Dent says the act will take away the secret ballot vote. Attorney Hlavac says the union decides how employees vote. Corporate America says it cares about workers. Here is the truth. The act does not take away the secret ballot vote. If 30 percent of employees decide they want a secret ballot vote, they receive it. Corporate America cares about the workers?

A big thank you to Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Charlie Dent for not supporting the Employee Free Choice Act. Small businesses are in dire need at this time and support of this bill would assure additional business closings, more names to added to the unemployment list, etc. On behalf of all businesses, thank you, thank you, thank you! Tina Hamilton Whitehall Township The writer is president of hireVision Group Inc. Editor

Sen. Arlen Specter's announcement on March 24 that he would not support the Employee Free Choice Act is based on faulty reasoning. Specter argues, as did The Morning Call in two editorials, that it is "a particularly bad time" for legislation aimed at assisting workers who want to form their own union. Neither The Morning Call nor Specter cites any historical evidence for the claim that workers wanting to join a union jeopardize the nation's economy. Why not? Because none exists. The current crisis and its effects on business in this country have nothing to do with workers who want a voice on the job. Ron Ennis Weisenberg Township

As a long-time Barack Obama supporter, I am extremely happy about his election. However, I must mention the one item on his campaign agenda with which I strongly disagree: Labor's EFCA (Employee Free Choice Act) attempt to outlaw the secret ballot in an effort to unionize the companies of the USA. Without the secret ballot, the criteria by which companies would become unionized would be reduced to peer pressure, trickery, bribery, and unlimited, uneducated, union card-signing. If workers decide to unionize, that is their right.

The teachers in Saucon Valley want 5.5 percent pay raises for the next five years? And keep paying less for their health care than any public sector employee in the Valley? The same year we are being asked to pay an additional 30 percent contribution to their pension plan, which is superior to any public sector plan in the Valley? Who do they think they are, the Allentown police union? No wonder these contract negotiations are supposed to be done in secret. I can see why we need the Employee Free Choice Act to protect these unions.

Our economy might be running a fever right now, but it's been sick for a while.Between an increasingly unregulated Wall Street and a debt-driven economy, it was only a matter of time before our economy swerved out of control. While our new president and Congress try to find a remedy for Wall Street, working families are looking for a way to bring a sense of balance back to the workplace. No matter how well our leaders perform, it will amount to little if working people don't have a voice on the job. The power to bargain collectively is the surest way to secure livable wages, quality health care and a stable retirement.

First, The Morning Call printed a posting from Michael Molovinsky's blog about the Employee Free Choice Act. Above the article were pictures of three tough-looking men from a 1950s movie "On the Waterfront." The implication was that they represented union organizers. In fact, they were former boxers playing roles in the movie -- a classic propaganda scare tactic. Then we had a column by Paul Carpenter who brings up the Employee Free Choice Act and calls union organizers "goons," not once, but seven times, stereotyping and slandering an occupation he obviously knows nothing about.

Sen. Arlen Specter's announcement on March 24 that he would not support the Employee Free Choice Act is based on faulty reasoning. Specter argues, as did The Morning Call in two editorials, that it is "a particularly bad time" for legislation aimed at assisting workers who want to form their own union. Neither The Morning Call nor Specter cites any historical evidence for the claim that workers wanting to join a union jeopardize the nation's economy. Why not? Because none exists. The current crisis and its effects on business in this country have nothing to do with workers who want a voice on the job. Ron Ennis Weisenberg Township

When I started working in nursing homes as a certified nursing assistant, I was excited that I would be doing something I love -- spending quality time with seniors and providing them with the care they need to live their final years with dignity. Unfortunately, that's not how I can describe what I do when I go to work at HCR Manor Care-Easton. I'm constantly running between rooms trying to keep up with my residents' needs, and there are some days when I just can't give them the care that I know they deserve.

A big thank you to Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Charlie Dent for not supporting the Employee Free Choice Act. Small businesses are in dire need at this time and support of this bill would assure additional business closings, more names to added to the unemployment list, etc. On behalf of all businesses, thank you, thank you, thank you! Tina Hamilton Whitehall Township The writer is president of hireVision Group Inc. Editor

The teachers in Saucon Valley want 5.5 percent pay raises for the next five years? And keep paying less for their health care than any public sector employee in the Valley? The same year we are being asked to pay an additional 30 percent contribution to their pension plan, which is superior to any public sector plan in the Valley? Who do they think they are, the Allentown police union? No wonder these contract negotiations are supposed to be done in secret. I can see why we need the Employee Free Choice Act to protect these unions.

Do you feel the winds of change a blowin'? Finally, the last eight years of damnation and assault on America's working class are coming to an end and there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel, folks. There is a new sheriff in town and he rode in packing the hope he promised all of us. Sit back, take time to reflect for a moment. Can you can feel it? Decency, patriotism and pride are again prevalent among the American people. Progress! It feels good. We're on our way to passing the Employee Free Choice Act to secure workers' constitutional right to form a union free from intimidation by their employer.

I was extremely happy to see the front page of the paper on July 18. Finally, some good news in these tough economic times. The idea of eliminating the secret ballot in union organization attempts is truly ludicrous. Your article mentioned possible intimidation by employers, but what about intimidation by union representatives? We all get to vote for our elected officials using a "secret ballot" and this should be no different. I fully support an individual's right to chose, but they must be allowed to vote in private.

Everyone following the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for unions to organize workers, was focused on how just one member of Congress would vote on the bill, known as the card-check bill. That was Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania's senior Senator. He was the only Republican to support the bill in 2007 and proponents of this year's bill saw his support as the key to passing it now. Labor groups and their allies were urging Sen. Specter to support it again. Pro-business groups and Republican leaders, however, gave him what amounted to an ultimatum: We won't give you money, we won't vote for you and we'll make sure you have a strong challenger in the 2010 primary.

Sen. Arlen Specter on Tuesday dealt a major setback to organized labor's top legislative priority, announcing he opposes a bill that would make it easier for workers to unionize. That leaves the measure without a crucial Republican swing vote. In a speech on the Senate floor, Specter said the dismal economy makes it "a particularly bad time" to enact the Employee Free Choice Act, the so-called "card check" law, but that he might reconsider "when the economy returns to normalcy." His decision was a reversal from 2007, when he was the lone Republican who voted to advance the measure.